US Vice President Mike Pence to touch down in Sydney next weekend

US Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to touch down in Sydney next weekend as part of a short tour which will include visits to South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Hawaii.

Mr Pence is due to fly out of Washington DC on Air Force Two on Saturday April 15 with his wife, Karen, and two daughters, Charlotte and Audrey.

The White House has said during the tour Mr Pence "will emphasise President Trump's continued commitment to US alliances and partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region, highlight the administration's economic agenda, and underscore America's unwavering support for our troops at home and abroad".

AUSTRALIA

The Trump Administration's early Asia-Pacific focus has been on the Koreas, Japan and China, rather than Australia and south-east Asia so there is hope Mr Pence's visit will give some clues to the White House's strategic vision for Australia and the region.

The US and Australian governments will be keen to put Mr Trump's fiery phone call with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull behind them.

The asylum-seeker deal that raised Mr Trump's blood pressure to boiling point during the call is still in the works and Mr Pence is expected to say the right things about it while in Australia.

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The US and Australia are keen to build on their military alliance now that disagreements over cost-sharing for Northern Territory military bases and the US Marines rotational force have been solved.

Mr Pence will meet with Mr Turnbull, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, and US and Australian military members during the visit and will focus "on American businesses, jobs, and the economy".

SEOUL

Mr Pence is flying directly into the high-stakes stand-off between Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with the US Navy's Carl Vinson supercarrier-led strike group of warships sitting off the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has threatened "nuclear fire of justice".

South Korea's own political situation is in flux with a presidential election set for May 9 after former president Park Geun-hye was removed from office in December after a bribery scandal.

TOKYO

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe aggressively built a relationship with Mr Trump, dropping in to Trump Tower in Manhattan just days after the election victory and then followed up with a February visit to the White House and then a side golfing trip to Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

During the talks it was decided Mr Pence and Deputy Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso would chair future economic policy talks.

The first US-Japan Economic Dialogue will take place during Mr Pence's Tokyo visit.

JAKARTA

Mr Pence will meet with President Joko Widodo, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and, noting the 40th Anniversary of US-ASEAN relations, he will hold talks with ASEAN officials.

The Indonesian visit has been circled by some US officials as the "most interesting to watch".

After Mr Trump's failed attempt to block some Muslim nations' citizens from entering the US, Mr Pence is expected to make an attempt to show the White House's support for religious tolerance..